Index Archive

15 April 2014

Walmart gets 7.8$ Billion subsidy from US Government According to new report published by AmericansForTaxFairness Walmart is the beneficiary of billions of dollars per year in federal subsidies

Walmart is the largest private employer in the United States, 1 with 1.4 million employeesThe Walton family, which owns more than 50 percent of Walmart shares

Walmart and the Walton family receive tax breaks and taxpayer subsidies estimated at More than $7.8 billion a year – that is enough money to hire 105,000 new public school Teachers

Walmart receives an estimated $6.2 billion annually in mostly federal taxpayer Subsidies. The reason: Walmart pays its employees so little that many of them rely On food stamps, health care and other taxpayer-funded programs

Walmart avoids an estimated $1 billion in federal taxes each year. The reason: Walmart uses tax breaks and loopholes, including a strategy known as accelerated Depreciation that allows it to write off capital investments considerably faster than The assets actually wear out.

The Waltons avoid an estimated $607 million in federal taxes on their Walmart Dividends. The reason: Income from investments is taxed at a much lower tax rate than income from salaries and wages.

In addition to the $7.8 billion in annual subsidies and tax breaks, the Walton family is Avoiding an estimated $3 billion in taxes by using specialized trusts to dodge estate Taxes – and this number could increase by tens of billions of dollars.

Walmart also benefits significantly from taxpayer-funded public assistance programs that Pump up the retailer’s sales. For example, Walmart had an estimated $13.5 billion in food stamp sales last year

1- Walmart - Cost to taxpayers of Walmart workers relying on public assistance programs due to low wages and benefits

Cost to tax payers - $6.2 billion

2-Walmart - Cost of federal tax breaks benefiting Walmart

Cost to tax payers - $1 billion

3-Walmart - Cost of direct economic development subsidies by state and local governments

Cost to tax payers - $70 million

4-Walmart - Cost of preferential tax rate on Walmart divi-dends claimed by the Walton family

Cost to tax payers - $607 million

5-Walmart - Cost of tax avoidance by Walton family through use of special estate tax trusts

U.S. Taxpayers Subsidize Walmart’s Low Wages and Low Benefits: $6.2 Billion a YearThis $6.2 billion estimate is based on a study prepared by the Democratic Staff of The U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce in May 2013.9 The study estimated the cost to Wisconsin’s taxpayers of Walmart’s low wages and benefits, which often force workers to rely on various public assistance programs. It found that a single Walmart Supercenter cost taxpayers between $904,542 and $1.75 million per year, or between $3,015 and $5,815 on average for each of 300 workers.

Walmart saved an estimated $5.1 billion in federal income taxes from 2008 to 2012, or an Average of $1 billion a year, due to federal tax breaks and loopholes, according to Citizens For Tax Justice (CTJ).16 Those tax breaks enabled Walmart to lower its federal tax rate from the statutory rate of 35 percent17 to an average of 29.1 percent over the five years.

To get this lower tax rate, CTJ notes that Walmart utilized various tax breaks, including A strategy known as “accelerated depreciation,” which allows “companies to write off Their capital investments considerably faster than the assets actually wear out.”

The report notes that “this ‘accelerated depreciation’ is technically a tax deferral, but so long As a company continues to invest, the tax deferral tends to be indefinite.”The Center for American Progress has noted that, “Accelerated depreciation in general should be Thought of as a multibillion-dollar federal spending program that subsidizes business Investments.”

Walmart has consistently used its substantial political power to support cuts in corporate Taxes. Currently, Walmart is a member of at least three business coalitions that lobby Congress to lower corporate tax rates.20

The company spent more than $41 million lobbying Congress between 2008 and 2013 and listed taxes as its top lobbying issue for the last four years.21

Walmart recently disclosed that it holds $21.4 billion in undistributed earnings overseas, which are not subject to the U.S. corporate income tax until they are brought home that is AmericaGood Jobs First (GJF) estimates that Walmart has received more than $1.2 billion in economic Development subsidies over the last two decades, and that the company receives $70 Million in subsidies annually from state and local governments.

The Walton family enjoys enormous tax savings because the vast majority of its income Comes in the form of capital gains and dividends, which are taxed at a much lower Rate than wage income

The Waltons received approximately $3.1 billion in Walmart dividends alone in 2013.28 we estimate the tax savings to the Waltons on this income amounts to $607 million, based on a capital gains tax rate of 20 percent compared with the top marginal tax rate of 39.6 percent on wages and salaries

Source - ATF Report About - ATF Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) is a diverse campaign of national, state and local organizations united in support of a tax system that works for all AmericansMore than 400 national and state-based organizations have come together to support Americans for Tax Fairness